United Nations, March 11 The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution to welcome the recent progress in the peace process in Afghanistan.
Resolution 2513, which won the unanimous support of the 15-member council, welcomed the significant steps toward ending the war and opening the door to intra-Afghan negotiations enabled by two accords signed between the US and the Taliban and between the US and the Afghan government. Xinhua reported.
The resolution on Tuesday welcomed the intention of all Afghan parties to pursue the successful negotiation of an inclusive political settlement and a permanent and comprehensive cease-fire.
It emphasizes the importance of the effective and meaningful participation of women, youth, and minorities, and affirms that any political settlement must protect the rights of all Afghans and respect the strong desire of Afghans to achieve durable peace and prosperity.
The resolution urges the Afghan government to advance the peace process, including by participating in intra-Afghan negotiations through a diverse and inclusive negotiating team composed of Afghan political and civil society leaders, including women.
It called on the Afghan government and the Taliban to pursue in good faith additional confidence-building measures to create conditions conducive to a swift beginning and the success of intra-Afghan negotiations and a durable peace, including additional reductions in violence to significantly reduce civilian casualties and allow for increased international support for Afghanistan prior to agreement on a permanent and comprehensive cease-fire, as well as the release of prisoners.
It also called on all states to provide full support to promoting the successful negotiation of a comprehensive and sustainable peace agreement.
The Security Council expresses its readiness, upon the commencement of the intra-Afghan negotiations, to consider the start of the review of the status of designations of individuals, groups, undertakings and entities on the sanctions list against the Taliban.
It welcomes the efforts of regional cooperation for regional development, and stresses the importance of international and regional economic cooperation for the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
( With inputs from IANS )